


Family Matters

by hannah_is_tiredd



Category: Onward (2020)
Genre: Barley Is A Supportive Older Brother, Gen, No Incest Zone, Unofficial Sequel, because kori rae rlly said no sequel rights, i'll just give warnings in the notes as i go lmao, ian is a feral wizard who's Had It, it's not too gory tho, rated T for violence and maybe language, there is violence, they look for yet another gem
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-01
Updated: 2020-07-10
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:41:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 3,800
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24712528
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hannah_is_tiredd/pseuds/hannah_is_tiredd
Summary: One night, Ian's staff starts to shake, signaling him of things to come. After him and Barley find out more secrets about their family, they set out on another quest to find a lost relic that will tie all the loose ends.
Kudos: 12





	1. Party Crashing

**Author's Note:**

> hey!! so you might've seen where i posted a story earlier this year (a staff's intuition). i wasn't happy with where it was going so i'm doing a rewrite of it! this first chapter's mostly the same but with more stuff added.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> While practicing magic, the boys find themselves in a pickle.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys!! this is the last time i'll rework this story. i just thought the sadaliandore stuff wasn't necessary for the story, but i promise i'll do some sadaliandore stuff in the meantime for another story. love y'all <3

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:* 𝔞𝔫 𝔬𝔫𝔴𝔞𝔯𝔡 𝔣𝔞𝔫𝔣𝔦𝔠𝔱𝔦𝔬𝔫 *:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ✧

_i do not own onward whatsoever!! it is owned by disney and pixar and is the creation of dan scanlon._

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

•••

"Come, young Iandore, for it is time you've taken on your training!" A boisterous young elf bursts into the room of his younger wizard brother. Ian, occupied with his homework at his desk, looked up at his excited older brother.

"Maybe later, Barley, I gotta finish this up." "That's weird, you usually finish your homework on Friday night. Are you studying for something?" "Nah, I may or may not have just procrastinated last night..." The two brothers chuckle. "Ah, high school. I don't miss it at all," Barley says. "Well, I'll let you get back at it." "Actually," Ian insists. "I'll just take a break. It's only Saturday after all, I can just finish tomorrow." "That's the spirit, young sorcerer! Now come with me, I know just what spells we shall practice this evening..."

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

It was a warm Saturday evening in New Mushroomton. It had been nearly a month since magic was reintroduced to the realm when the two elf brothers fought off a cursed dragon that was summoned by an old fountain that was to be demolished. Ian was using his magic to fight the beast - something the witnesses had thought was a thing of the past. Since then, magic had slowly started to return. Pixies started to use their wings, centaurs started to run, and the Manticore remodeled her tavern to reflect the days of yore. But the realm is still slowly adjusting, and young Iandore has been the talk of the town. He was able to rebuild the school with the help of Barley and his fellowship, and he was able to make friends with the group he attempted to invite to his house for a birthday party. But this interest in magic has made him a target for the less interested students at his school, who think magic no longer has a place in the world. Ian doesn't care about the stares he's gotten and the snickers he's heard, as he knows he has friends who will stand up for him, and he has gained the courage to stand up for himself. He continues to practice his magic and wants to encourage others.

The two brothers head into their backyard for another night of training. Barley grabs his trusty Quests of Yore guidebook and fingers through the pages as he and Ian walk outside.

"So what are you thinking? I was thinking we could try the armor spell, or maybe the light beam spell...or maybe the shield spell?" "The shield spell seems like it could be the easiest," Ian suggests. Barley flips to the spell and hands the book to the wizard.

Ian looks at the magic decree and reads: " _An unblinking stare is required if a strong barrier is desired._ So I just stare at you?" the younger Lightfoot asks. "Yeah, I'll play along."

The wizard takes a breath and stares at his brother, and holds out his staff and recites, " ** _Bastion Fortigar!_** " And sure enough, a shield appears in front of him. "Well, throw something at it!" he tells Barley. The older elf looks around for something and then throws a ball he found at it. Sure enough, it bounces off the shield and starts flying back towards Barley, who runs away from the ball's path.

"Wow, you managed to make a pretty strong shield for the first time!"

Something suddenly comes on Ian's mind. "I wonder if we can fly on this staff..." He picks up the book and turns to the flying spell. He used this spell on Barley's van Guinevere II when heading to the park one night, but has never used it to fly on the staff itself. "...Is it possible?" 

"Well, yeah, but it'd be hard to control yourself. Don't you think we should wait a bit for that?" the older elf replies.

"Barley, I've been doing this stuff for a month now. I'm pretty sure some wizards were flying on their staffs within days." "Not really. It's one of the hardest spells to master." "As if I never cast Arcane Lightning within 24 hours of getting the staff. The wizards of old would've learned faster, had they had a guide like you." "Well, you're the most patient and determined mage I've had the pleasure of teaching!" "The _only_ mage, haha," Ian corrects. The brothers share a laugh and start to get ready to cast the spell. Barley then ponders doing this. The thought of him and Ian soaring through the sky on a staff sounds amazing, but he still has the concern for his brother's safety. Nevertheless, he lets him explore the world of magic and if anything tough comes up, they'll face it together.

" _To soar through the sky, tell your heavy burdens goodbye_." The elves hold hands and try to empty their minds of any disturbance, following the decree. The wizard then aims the staff in the air and recites " ** _Avi Dolanta_**!"

The two of them start to drift off the ground, and Ian quickly gets on the staff, with Barley behind him. With that, the staff suddenly takes off into the air.

"WOO-HOO!" the brothers yell as they soar through the sky. "How do I control this thing?" Ian yells. "Like how you think you would, just lower it, and you'll go down!" "Alright- WOAH!"

Before they know it, the two teens end up crashing into a large tree, the branches breaking their falls.

Ian opens his eyes and finds himself holding onto a branch, and sees his staff hanging off a bunch of other branches above him. "Well...that didn't last long."

" _Gods know whose backyard we've landed in, we're screwed!_ " Ian whispers. " _Not if we use the invisibility spell!_ " " _Oh, someone's still gonna notice something's moving in the back-_ ** _YARD_** _!_ " The tree branch the younger elf was perched on snaps, and Barley grabs his hand to pull him back up, only for that branch to snap as well, sending the brothers falling from branch to branch. "Ow- I told you- this was- too early to try!" Barley says as he holds his brother close during their free fall. Eventually, they both find themselves hitting not grass or concrete ground, but a pool.

 _We're dead, we're so dead_ constantly runs through Ian's head as he quickly grabs the staff that fell beside him and surfaces the water beside Barley. Through his soaked blue curls, he sees a large group of kids around his age, suddenly quiet and looking right at him and his brother. He's never seen them before and assumes they go to a different school. Ian starts stuttering, grabbing Barley, and getting out of the pool: "... _Oh, Chantar's Talon_ \- uuuh, sorry guys, this is all just a- this is just part of the plan, you don't have to-"

"LIGHTFOOTS!" A voice calls from within the crowd of teens. Emerging from the epicenter of the crowd is a tall dark blue elf, walking toward the soaked brothers. 

" _Oh, no, no, no_..." Ian mutters. Barley pulls himself out of the pool and then pulls his little brother out. Once out of the pool, the two of them notice the scratches and cuts they got from falling through many tree branches and twigs. 

The elf - Frewin Welker - is one of the most popular students at Ian's school, and hosts the most elite parties, which confirms the guests go to his school as well. "I see you two have crashed my party. Or in this case, splashed. Did one of your spells go wrong, wiz kid?"

Ian gulped, and Barley intervened, "In fact, Mr..?" "Frewin". "Mr. Frewin, this was all an accident, and I and my brother shall make our way back momentarily if you could kindly show us the exit-" "Oh, he's not leaving." 

"Wha-?" Barley looks back at him, ears drooping. "I was wanting to see him a bit, get to know him. I mean, he is kind of the hero of this town, right? You wouldn't want to deny him the chance to get to know some more people, right?" The 19-year-old hears Frewin's words and knows exactly what kind of kids these are. He remembers them from high school, and they were the worst part. They knew they were trying to manipulate any random "loser" kid or "screwup" in Barley's case.

Ian is shocked that he is finally getting some sort of positive recognition from his peers, and even though he already has a new group of friends, he thinks some more wouldn't hurt. He looks back at his brother, and back at Frewin. The 16-year-old then says "...I want in." 

The crowd then engages in quiet "oohs". 

He then adds "...if you let Barley come as well." Frewin chuckles in response. "That screwup? Look, no one here cares about the history buff. We just wanna see you, and your magical talents." 

Frewin then pulls Ian beside him. Barley gasps and gets ready to reclaim his brother, when some other crowd member pushes him back into the pool. He surfaces to see everyone laughing at him, and walking back into the house with Ian.

The screen door shuts with a click, and Barley knew there was no easy way of getting in.

" _I'm not a screwup_ ," he says to himself. " _and Ian would know that_."

He gets out of the pool and runs over to the screen door look in, but when he gets there the curtains are drawn.

"Oh, Gods, what could they possibly be doing to him..."

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆


	2. Frewin

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ian shows off his magic to Frewin and his party guests, but things take an unexpected turn...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> in case you haven't read the first chapter again, i got rid of the sadaliandore plot because i thought it wasn't contributing to the story well. so if you don't wanna be confused, read the first chapter lol.

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

•••

The interior of Frewin's house is nothing special, like any other house in suburbia. Ian would've assumed he lived in one of the bigger houses considering his status, but it isn't too different from his house.

The screen door leads into the kitchen, which is littered with half-empty bottles of beer and pizza boxes. "Go ahead, make yourself at home," the dark teal-haired elf tells Ian as the guests pile back into the living room, where tons of trash and empty plastic cups are scattered on the floor. "Oh, right, you're still soaking wet." Frewin heads into the laundry room located next to the refrigerator, and shortly comes back with a fresh clean towel from out of the dryer. Ian accepts the warm towel, rubbing it through his mop of hair, clothes, and finally hanging it on his shoulders.

In the slightly small living room, Frewin and the guests are gathered on one side, while Ian is by himself on the other side, holding his staff and trying not to shake too much due to panic. This party of Frewin's is more intense than his usual ones, with more guests and alcohol, particularly because his parents have just gone out for a vacation. Ian counted about 40 people clumped up in the back of the room.

"Alright, show us what you got."

"Just...anything?"

The other elf nods, giving a grimacing smile.

"Well...I can make things levitate."

The wizard points the staff toward a cup on the ground and recites " ** _Aloft Elevar!_** " The blue light emits from the staff, and the cup drifts off the ground, garnering reactions from the invested crowd.

The 16-year-old keeps showing off simple spells, such as the light spell and the invisibility spell. And once he's done, the crowd gets back to their regular party rituals.

"Well, that was pretty fun to do, but I should be getting back to my brother. He's probably worried sick about me," Ian tells Frewin. "Oh, we're not done yet. I'd like to have a talk with you." The host then grabs the attention of the guests and announces "I'll be back shortly, Ian and I need to take care of a few things."

Ian starts to feel even more uneasy, as he follows Frewin through the crowds and upstairs into the hallway.

The dark blue elf looks around before opening the bathroom door and quickly heading inside with Ian and shutting it with a lock.

"What do you want from me?" immediately comes out of Iandore's mouth as he looks at Frewin, who has his arms crossed and generally doesn't plan on being gentle with the wizard. "Oh, I just wanna know why you think magic has a place today, and why you think everyone's just gonna blindly accept it." Ian gulps at his abrasive tone, and when he opens his mouth to speak, Frewin starts again: "It's deadly. It's hard to master. There's no use for it anymore. You go along with your brother's magical delusional history buff hijinks and don't see anything wrong with it." The wizard still can't find any words to say as his anxiety reaches an all-time high. But then something comes out. "You don't know anything. You don't know my brother, and you barely even know me," he says with a tremble in his voice, holding his staff close. "I wanna use these powers to help people...I'd never hurt anyone with them." The painful lump in Ian's throat gives in and he starts to cry. "I'm going home."

The curly-haired elf opens the door and starts heading out, but Frewin grabs him by the collar of his white shirt under his red flannel and holds him up to his face, his green eyes staring directly into Ian's brown ones.

" _Listen here, you little Lightfoot punk. You're not getting away. I'm gonna make every wizard's life hell, especially_ ** _yours_**."

⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yikes sorry this chapter is so short...but to make up for it the next chapter will come very very soon!! don't wanna leave y'all hanging for too long. anyways blah blah pixar and dan scanlon i do not own onward. happy july y'all.


	3. Big Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Barley ends up being right about Frewin's intentions.

Fear. Panic. That was all that's been running through Barley's mind tonight. He frantically keeps checking every window around the house, seeing if anyone has opened the curtains, to no avail. Neither he nor Ian took their phones, and he can't even tell what neighborhood they're in. He's tried knocking on the door, but he's sure that Frewin told the guests to ignore.

The 19-year-old is starting to give up. Maybe he DID just want to see Ian's spells, and he's just a massive jerk who was never set on hurting him in the first place, just wanting to see his magic, laugh at him, and let him right back out with his brother. But it was taking strangely long. He noticed that there was only silence outside the house, and after a while, the music started back up, when he assumed that was when Ian was done showing his spells. But he was never let out. Maybe he chose to stay for a bit longer?

Barley doesn't have a watch on him but he knows a large amount of time has passed. He sits on the front porch, trying not to burst into tears.

Just one more time, he knocks on the door, this time with an actual response. The door opens, revealing the flashing lights and music blaring inside the living room, including the sounds of reckless teenagers yelling and dancing.

The door was answered by a satyr, to whom Barley immediately asks "Where's Frewin?"

"Oh, Frewin. Yeah, he went upstairs for somethin-"

"Torgan, he said to never answer the door, it could be the cops- oh, it's you," A troll then appears behind the satyr. "Sorry, man, but Frewin says not to let in people he doesn't approve of."

"Frewin went upstairs with my brother, did he?" Barley asks. The two of them nod. "He could be doing Zadar knows what to him. I have to get up there to stop him."

"Sorry, but we can't let you in-" "You know what? I don't care."

Barley rushes in and pushes away guests in order to get up the stairs. Once he gets up to the hallway, he sees a cracked door possibly leading to Frewin's room. He sneaks in there and hears a noise coming from the closet. He slowly shuts the door behind him, and hesitantly approaches the closet door, hoping it's his brother. And sure enough, when he gets the courage to open it, out topples his little brother, his arms and legs wrapped in ropes and his mouth covered in tape. Barley gasps in horror and immediately starts untying the ropes and ripping the tape off, causing Ian to grunt in pain. After that, the two brothers share a long-awaited hug.

"How did you get in here?" The 16-year-old asks in tears. "Eh, just with a little quick thinking."

Suddenly, Frewin appears behind Barley with a knife in hand.

" _Barley...behind you_..." Ian whispers.

Barley cranes his head to his back, and he immediately gets up and tackles him, causing Frewin to toss the knife on the floor. He puts him in a chokehold, and tells his brother "Run Ian. Run. I've got this."

"No you don't Barley. We've gotta call the cops." "Yeah- wait what? No, no we've _don't_ gotta call the cops!" Barley says as he holds Frewin down as he struggles to get the knife back.

"If Bronco comes, that means we're in big trouble, and I'm not in the mood to deal with that." "But this guy has to be arrested! He wants to _kill_ me, Barley!" "Yeah, and me too!" "No, he was wanting to stab _me_." "He wants to kill _BOTH_ of us! Now _GO_!"

Obeying his brother, Ian quickly exits the room, staff in hand, and rushes down the stairs. However, he runs into the kitchen and finds the house phone, and sees what he presumes to be the address to this house on an open envelope sitting on the counter. Not listening to his brother, he calls the cops.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry this was so short,,,promise the next one will be longer haha


	4. A Quarrel

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After escaping the party, more trouble comes to the boys.

The party had turned into an all-out rave, with blasting loud music and flashing lights. No one had noticed what was taking place upstairs.

Barley keeps fighting with the elven host until he is finally able to tie him up with the rope. He runs down the stairs into the crowds and starts running to the back door, only to see Ian still standing there, getting off the phone.

"Ian, what are you doing? Why are you still here- agh, come on!"

The older elf grabs the younger elf's arm and runs out the back door.

"Ian, why were you still standing there?" Barley asks as they run towards the back fence. "W-why are we going this way?" the wizard stammers out, knowing his brother will be angry with him. "Answer me Ian, were you calling the cops?" "...YES, okay, yes, I called the cops. I HAD to." "And THAT's why we're going out this way. I had a feeling you'd do that."

Barley climbs over the fence, followed by Ian. They're now in a wooded area, and Barley continues to run. "Do you even know where we're going, Barley? We don't even know what neighborhood that was!" Ian says, clutching his staff and trying to keep up with his brother's speed. "Colt could be anywhere out in these streets, if he finds out we had any involvement in that party, he'd kill us, no matter what Frewin did." "Well you know what, he's probably still in that house, where you probably rightfully knocked him out, with his knife where they can see it."

The burly elf stops running, leans against a tree and turns to look back at the wizard.

"...I _told_ you it was too early to try out that spell." "But you _ALSO_ still let me go through with it. Is it now _MY_ fault this psychotic popular kid from school wants me dead? Is it _my_ fault they made you stay out while they made me levitate a plastic cup?" "If you _really_ cared, you would've not gone in, Ian. But _no_ , you wanted to get some clout from those macho freaks, and nearly got yourself _killed_. _You_ did this to yourself."

Ian's ears perk down, and he looks down at the ground of soil, dead leaves and pine needles. He feels a lump in his throat and tears well up in his eyes.

"...You had the idea of practicing magic in the first place," Ian croaks. "If you never did that, I'd probably be finished with my homework by now. And that was _LOTS_ of homework, Barley."

No comment.

A tear streams down Ian's cheek.

"Come on...let's forget about this and go home...it's already too late, Mom's gonna kill us regardless..."

The wizard sees a clearing in the distance and starts walking towards there, while his brother slowly follows behind him.

They eventually see a street light, and they end up at a road, where they see a familiar lime green car driving by...

"Oh, no no no..." the two brothers mumble under their breath.

The female elf in the driver's seat gasps then pulls over and steps out of the car, hands on her hips.

"Now what in Zadar is this?" Laurel scolds as her sons stand dumbfounded in the distance.

Barley starts: "Mom, we promise, there's a logical explanation for all of this-" "You two, get in the car now. You can explain in there."

The Lightfoots get into the car, and Laurel starts to quickly drive back home.

Ian wipes another tear and utters "Mom, I-" "Iandore and Barleston Lightfoot, I cannot _BELIEVE_ you two! A month after you run away and battle with that dragon, you suddenly disappear _again_ without warning! I looked all over for you two and you just happened to be messing around in the woods, right near where Colt has been called to take care of a psycho threatening to kill people at a high school party! Do you two understand how late it is? Do you two understand how worried we both were? I get that you are now invested in your magic and quests and all that, but could you at least tell us when you run off to _Gods_ know where?"

"Well, we- _ow_!" Ian started to talk when Barley stepped on his foot. "We were practicing Ian's magic when we tried a flying spell and ended up here." the older elf explained quickly.

"That seemed an awful lot of time for just that. You were gone for almost two hours!"

The brothers look at each other. _Was it really that long_?

"You two are grounded, you hear me? Neither of you will leave that house for any funny business until you learn to be responsible about it!"

" _Alright, Mom_..." Ian sighs. Barley, who usually would try to resist, sighs and stares out the window. The wizard awkwardly stares out the other window, as they leave the wooded area and back into the neighborhoods, the double crescent moons in view in the purple night sky.

 _This night was a disaster..._ Ian thinks to himself.

_And it was all my fault._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ahh yes angst >:) it will only get angstier from here! oh and yeah i made up a real name for barley. i thought i'd make it sound ridiculous and something only laurel would call him occasionally, but something no one else would ever call him lol. anyways blah blah pixar and dan scanlon i don't own onward.


End file.
